


all at once, everything is different

by PrettyLittleWings



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky Barnes Recovering, Bucky Barnes and the 21st Century, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-10
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2019-06-24 17:24:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15635277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrettyLittleWings/pseuds/PrettyLittleWings
Summary: Snapshots of Bucky discovering the 21st century - Darcy never wants to forget these moments. After all, a super soldier ex-Russian assassin only experiences Zero Gravity for the first time once.





	all at once, everything is different

YouTube  
Darcy first showed him her Stark phone on a rainy Tuesday afternoon a few weeks after they had started dating. He had seen many smartphones of course, and even had one of his own. Steve had given it to him “for emergencies”, but had never really told him anything else about it. Apparently Steve was a bit behind on the technological advances of this century as well. However Bucky had seen people using these strange new devices - and for more than just talking. They texted, watched videos, listened to music, and looked up facts, new articles, and funny pictures that Tony kept trying to show him because they were “funny”.

But Bucky also knew that if used correctly, devices this powerful could easily be used as weapons, so he had kept his distance. Besides, he really had no idea what to do with his own phone. He knew he could send a text message to Steve or Darcy or Bruce, but couldn’t he just walk over to them and say hi? People nowadays were so strange. 

However, Darcy was determined to catch him up on everything he had missed, so she pulled him onto the couch with her and settled comfortable across his lap, her legs tucked up next to him and his arms around her. Even though he was feeling a bit tired and overwhelmed, Bucky was never one to complain with a pretty girl all cozy in his lap, so he settled back and quietly watched over her shoulder as she used her thumbprint to unlock her phone. 

“You don’t have to use or even like these phones,” she told him, flicking over a page of apps. “But you should know what they do, so you can use them if you ever want.”

Bucky shrugged. “I guess.”

She turned her head so she could see him, brown eyes meeting steel blue. “I know you think that these could be dangerous, and you’re right. They can be. But if they’re used rightly, they can be a tool and actually very useful.”

“Okay,” he said, burrowing into the couch a little deeper and tightening his arms around her. “Show me.”

Darcy beamed and opened an app with a red rectangle with a white triangle in the center. Bucky recognized it as the app with all the videos. Tony was always watching videos of dogs and cats doing strange things, and Steve had a particular affinity for watching ones of small children falling in comical ways. 

“You remember YouTube, right?” she asked, scrolling lightning fast past videos of people and animals and cars and everything in between. 

Bucky nodded. “I’m a brainwashed assassin, not an amnesiac,” he said, resting his chin against her shoulder. “Tony likes this one. Lots of people like it.”

“But not you?” Darcy asked, pausing in her scrolling. 

“It’s okay, I guess,” he said. “But it’s not something that I’d ever really do by myself or just for fun.”

“Hear me out,” Darcy said, typing something into the search bar at the top of the page. “I know you haven’t been hooked in yet, but the beauty of YouTube is that there are videos of literally everything on here. There’s something here for everyone.” She turned to him. “What’s one of your favorite things?”

He snorted. “Like right now? Or in my almost 100 years of life?”

“Anything. Like I said, the Internet is a magical place.”  
He thought for a moment. “I always did like baseball. Steve and I always wanted to go to a game. Never had enough money though.”

They had tried going to a game here in New York a few months ago. But it was so loud and everything was so unfamiliar, that Bucky had a panic attack in the bathroom and probably would have stabbed a mascot if Steve hadn’t gotten him out as fast as he did. But Bucky did remember being a kid and playing baseball in the streets with skinny little Steve, who would run as fast as his crappy asthmatic lungs would allow him until he was almost doubled over, just to prove he could play too. 

Darcy grinned. “Right-o, baseball it is.” A few taps on the screen later and they were watching a New York Yankees baseball game. 

Bucky watched, entranced, as the batter hit a spectacular triple and sprinted around the bases. It was so clear, he might have been standing on the field with the players. And Darcy had turned the sound way down so that he could still hear the cheers and the crack of the bat, but it wasn’t overwhelming or too loud. 

“I can watch baseball on here?” he asked. “Does Steve know about this?”

She laughed. “Yeah, he does. Now you can watch your favorite team in the peace and quiet of your own bedroom.” 

Bucky reached for the phone. “Can I?” he asked. 

She handed it to him, and he gingerly took it with his left hand, carefully not to accidentally squeeze or shatter it. Scrolling down, he saw the words “World Series Champions 2016 - Chicago Cubs”, and he tapped on it. Immediately a video started of the highlights of the Cubs’ route to victory, taking a spellbound Bucky along for the ride.

When the final game ended and the Cubs had won the Series, Bucky sat back, setting the phone on the couch, and looked at Darcy with wide eyes. 

“Holy shit,” he said. “I can’t believe it.”

She squirmed happily. “So you do like YouTube after all. I knew there was something on it that you would like.”

“No, what I can’t believe is that the Cubs won the World Series. I mean, how did that even happen? Are you sure they didn’t cheat?” He rubbed his eyes. “Hold on, doll. Maybe I’d better watch this again.”

Darcy laughed, setting her head on his shoulder, content to lie there with him while her adorable psuedo-elderly boyfriend watched baseball highlights on YouTube. 

In the future, on rainy days or slow days or days when Bucky didn’t feel much like talking or dealing with the world around him, Darcy found him curled up in bed or on the couch, happily watching baseball highlights from the last fifty years. It made her heart happy to know that he was so safe, warm, and satisfied. 

 

Trampoline parks  
“Zero gravity?” Bucky asked, frowning and leaning on the counter. “Isn’t that dangerous?”

Darcy shook her head. “No, that’s just the name of the place. You know, Zero Gravity because you’re doing a lot of jumping and it’s like there’s no gravity. You get it.”

“I guess.” Bucky unwrapped a granola bar and bit into it. “I don’t get how you’re supposed to fit that many trampolines in one place.”

She sighed. “It’s not like there’s twenty individual trampolines in a room. The floor is a giant trampoline.”

“Whatever you say, doll,” he said with a grin, tossing the wrapper and grabbing his jacket. “I guess we’ll have to wait and find out. C’mon. Steve’s waiting for us.”

On the way to Zero Gravity, Steve and Sam also tried to explain the concept of a trampoline park to Bucky, but with little success. 

“It’s like this giant room and there’s all these little squares, and the squares are trampolines, so you can just bounce across the room and back. It’s like you’re an astronaut on the moon,” Steve said enthusiastically. Super soldier plus bouncy trampoline meant that he could bounce extra high, so Darcy had made sure they were going at a time that the place wouldn’t be busy. She wanted the boys to have fun, but she didn’t want to accidentally squash a small child. 

Sam turned around from his spot in the passenger seat. “You’re gonna love it, man. It’s pretty awesome, and that’s coming from a guy who can fly.”

“Bucky, have you ever been on a trampoline?” Darcy asked, leaning against his shoulder in the backseat and scrolling through Twitter at a dizzying pace. 

Bucky scrunched up his face in concentration. “No? I don’t think so.” He shrugged. “Unless the Russians sent me on a deadly mission eliminate a target by way of trampoline. I wouldn’t really remember that.”

Steve gave him a reproachful look from the front seat. “Buck, you don’t have to talk about it,” he said. “You’ve been through enough without constantly bringing it up.”

“It’s no use, Steve,” said Darcy. “I’ve tried telling him that, but he brings it up constantly. Like last night, we were--”

Bucky cut her off. “Ok, doll, no need to go into detail.” He met Steve’s eyes in the mirror. “Some things just aren’t meant to be shared with the world.”

When they arrived, Sam got them all wristbands and Darcy took a peek into the gym. Thankfully, it was deserted, seeing as it was 2 pm on a Wednesday. Bucky followed her toward the trampolines, looking a bit suspicious. 

“Look, Buck,” called Steve, bouncing on a square gently, although he was still going higher than Darcy would ever be able to jump normally. 

She hopped onto the one next to Steve. “Come on,” she said, holding out her hand to Bucky. 

He took it and stepped onto the trampoline beside her. Giving an experimental bounce, they both shifted a bit, Darcy grabbing onto his bicep more firmly to avoid falling. He did it again, a little harder, and she saw the beginnings of a smile turn up the corners of his mouth. 

“Like that?” she asked, but he was already bouncing away, jumping from square to square after Steve, his grin spreading across his face as he went. 

Darcy bounded after them, but she was a mere mortal, and keeping up with two super soldiers that could bounce like kangaroos was too hard for her and her short legs. Sam landed gracefully on the mat next to her. 

“It’s like watching two giant rabbits,” he said, squinting at Bucky and Steve chase each other around like two kids. “Except they’re giant and can bounce way higher than should be humanly possible.”

She shook her head. “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” she replied, making her way over to where Steve had Bucky in a headlock. 

Bucky did some kind of weird crunch and bounced them both so high that Steve lost his grip, letting go of Bucky long enough so that he could jump onto Steve’s back and wrap around him like some kind of killer koala. Steve was laughing and trying to smack Bucky. 

“Okay, okay, you win,” he said, and Bucky slid off, looking pleased. “I guess you’re still stronger than me after all.”

“Did you hear that, doll?” Bucky said, slinging an arm around Darcy’s shoulders. “All that super serum, and Captain America just got beat by a guy with one arm.”

Steve made a mock-outraged face. “One human arm and one biotic vibranium arm. An important detail.”

Sam bounded up. “Did Bucky beat Cap?”

“You’re all very strong,” said Darcy, rolling her eyes. “You’re all super strong, super big, super soldiers.” She paused. “Well, I guess Sam just puts on a suit that can make him fly, but he has a sparkling personality.”

Bucky snorted, bouncing a little a shoving Sam in the shoulder. “I’ve never seen this sparkling personality.”

“Back off, man,” Sam said, pushing back. “Falcon kicks ass. Let’s let the ultimate dodgeball tournament settle this argument.”

“Oh, I’m good at this game,” said Steve over his shoulder as he headed over to the bin with soft, colorful balls. “I’m going to wipe the floor with you all!”

Bucky grabbed Darcy’s hand. “Darcy and me against you and Sam. Cheaters get thrown out.” He eyed Sam. “I’m lookin’ at you, buster.”

“Me? Who said I would be the one cheating? My athletic abilities are above average.”

Darcy caught the ball that Bucky launched at her. “Ok, let’s remember that I am not genetically enhanced and do not want to die on a trampoline at Zero Gravity.” 

Bucky grabbed her, wrapping both arms tight around her. “I won’t let you get hurt. I promise I’ll protect you and--”

He abruptly cut off as a red ball collided with his back. Looking up, Darcy saw Steve grinning at them from across the room, another ball ready in his hands. 

“ROGERS!” yelled Bucky, and the games began. 

 

Hawaiian shave ice  
Bucky was still learning to form likes and dislikes with certain foods. During his years with Hydra, he was never fed things that he remembered enjoying or not enjoying. He simply ate to prolong his strength and keep him from passing out from pain or exhaustion. Once he was done eating he would work until he couldn’t see straight, and they would wipe him and throw him back into deep freeze. 

But here in the 21st century food was abundant. For a kid who had grown up in the Depression, he should have been ecstatic at the amount of food that was readily available to him. Steve certainly was. As super soldiers, their metabolisms worked twice as fast as normal human beings, so they required much more food. Steve was always trying to get him to join him for Thai takeout, authentic Texas barbeque, or Korean sticky ribs. But it sometimes made Bucky feel nervous and anxious. He couldn’t explain it, but sometimes eating gave him the feeling of panic that he got right before he went into cryo. 

Eventually Darcy noticed that he wasn’t eating well and made him tell his therapist about it. His therapist told him that it was possibly the sheer volume of food options that was making him anxious, and suggested trying to find a few favorites and sticking to those for a while before moving on to other foods. 

Darcy took to this idea immediately when he told her, and set out to help him find some new favorite foods. Each week, she would give him two or three new items or dishes for him to try. Slowly, Bucky began finding favorites that they could have again. He also discovered what he didn’t like, and Darcy tried not to feed them to him in the future. The “Yes Foods” list included pepperoni pizza, Vietnamese spring rolls, and pico de gallo. The “NO Foods” list included key lime pie, blue cheese, and fish sticks. 

Last week Darcy had set out a small casserole dish and a bowl of something yellow covered in fruit. Bucky had sniffed suspiciously at the dish. 

“What’s this, doll?” he asked, noticing the melted cheese and noodles and brightening up. “Oh, I like pasta.”  
Darcy grinned, spooning some onto his plate and handing him a fork. “I know. And you know what’s even better than plain pasta? Mac and cheese.”

A month ago, Darcy had given Bucky some mac and cheese from a box, and Bucky had devoured it all. And then another box. And then another. Steve had then suggested that boxed mac and cheese may not be the best food for a super soldier who could eat more than four normal people in one sitting. So Darcy learned the art of casseroles and that was how they arrived at baked mac and cheese. Bucky poked at the food for a bit with his fork, which was normal, before shrugging and inhaling the whole plate of it, which was also normal. 

“Good?” Darcy asked, grinning at him and leaning on her forearms across the table. 

He nodded enthusiastically. “Great. I love it. This definitely is goin’ on the favorites lists.”

“Score one for Team Lewis and Barnes!” she exclaimed. “Team Larnes. Team Bewis. Team Barcy?” She paused, frowning as she thought. “Oh, I got it: Team Ducky.”

“What about ducks?” asked Bucky, gulping down water like a dying man. 

“It’s our ship name.”

“What about boats?”

She sighed. “Never mind. Try this. It’s dessert.”

“What kind?”

“I believe it’s originally from Hawaii, but I just got it from the really hipster place a block away. It’s called shave ice. It’s kind of like a snow cone in a bowl with toppings.”

Bucky eyed the bowl dubiously. “It’s melting.”

“Well, eat it, you dummy. Cold things melt when they’re not in a cold place.”  
“Believe me, I know,” he said, sliding the bowl closer and pointing the spoon at her. “They don’t call me the Winter Soldier for nothing.”

Darcy rolled her eyes. “Shut up and eat it.”

The minute Bucky took a bite, his eyes slid closed and he let out a long, blissful sound that Darcy had formerly only associated with sex. She could see him moving it around in his mouth and watched his throat as he swallowed. When he did open his eyes they were peaceful and sparkling. 

“Darce,” he said, “that is fucking delicious.”

Darcy laughed, gleeful to see him like this. “Isn’t it good? I got you the mango kind - I swear on my grandmother’s grave that it’s the best kind.”

“Try some,” he said, spooning some up and offering it to her. “I knew I liked the twenty-first century for something.”

“Mmmm,” she replied, letting the cold sweetness burst over her tongue. “Maybe this should be a tradition.”

“Dessert?” he asked, scooping more up before giving her another bite.

Darcy wiped her sticky hands on a napkin. “No, we can have a shave ice date. You and me. Team Ducky.”

Bucky looked up from his mango-induced euphoria and blinked. “Oh, I get it now. Ducky is a blend of Darcy and Bucky, so it’s like our name together as a couple.”

“Yes!” Darcy threw her hands in the air. “Hell yes! Isn’t that smart? It’s our ship name.”

He frowned. “Wait, why do you keeping bringing up boats? Are we supposed to be eating this at sea or something?”  
“Oh my god, just forget it, Barnes,” she said, getting up and moving closer until her lips could find his. “Let’s just make out and forget about it.”

Bucky also found out that day that he very much liked kissing Darcy after mango-flavored shave ice. 

 

Camera phones  
Photography in the 1930s was not something that the everyday person took part of. Bucky associated photos with stern-looking men that were there to frown and pry and take all day to make a single shot that had to be developed with complicated techniques and expensive film and a weird dark room. However, the blindingly bright, impossibly fast world that he now lived in was full of photos, and they were everywhere. They were in books, glossy magazines, and looking down at him from giant billboards everywhere he turned. And not only that, they were in perfect color and magically clear. Sometimes he just wanted to stand in one place and stare and stare until his eyes fell out. When he voiced this to Darcy she got worried, but he assured her that the desire stemmed from mere curiosity and not insanity. 

However, the process of taking photos was new to him as well. Tons of people had cameras - disposable ones, small digital ones, and larger black ones that were similar to the surveillance equipment he was used too. But instead of taking creepy pictures of people they were going to murder, people used them to frame moments they wanted to remember. 

In addition to the plethora of cameras available, there was even a camera in his phone. After he got over his initial fear of using it at all, he began to explore a little, and one day when Darcy came back from a day in the lab, she was surprised to find him laying on the living room rug, Stark phone in hand. 

“Whatcha doing, Bucky?” she asked, sliding off her boots and running a hand through messy hair. 

He turned his head. “I’m taking pictures. With my phone. It has a camera.”

“Does it now?” she said, trying to hide her grin. “And you’re taking pictures of . . . the floor?”  
He shrugged. “I just thought it was cool the way the light looked on the corner of the rug, so I decided to snap a picture. Bruce said he can show me how to send them to the lab so I can have the real photo.”

“How long have you been at this?” Darcy asked, dropping onto the sofa and curling into Bucky as he got up off the floor and slid behind her. 

He frowned. “Most of the day, I guess.” He dropped a light kiss onto her cheek. “Want to see the photos I took?”

“Most definitely I do,” Darcy said, grinning at him and opening the photos app on his phone. “Let’s see what my sexy soldier got up to while--oh God.” She noticed that the photo album, which had had zero photos in it that morning, now had almost four hundred photos. 

“What is it?” Bucky stiffened behind her, instincts kicking in fast. “Did you hear something? Are you okay?”

She slid a hand reassuringly over his. “Oh, I’m sorry. I just didn’t realize how long you had been doing this. I’m glad to see that you’ve, uh, found a hobby.” Darcy settled against his firm chest and clicked on the first photo, which was a charming shot of the refrigerator with Bucky’s finger over most of the lens. “I want to see your artwork.”

From that day on, Bucky never seemed to lose interest in snapping pictures with his phone. If he couldn’t find his, or Darcy’s happened to be closer, he would also start taking photos with her phone. Darcy soon realized that she had to teach him about some forms of tech etiquette in the 2000s, especially after the sexting incident (“Bucky, dick pics are only supposed to be sent to the person you’re sleeping with! Steve does NOT need to see that!”), or after the group text fiasco (“Bucky, honey, not everyone wants to see a new picture of the sidewalk every half an hour!”). 

Eventually, he got better and less trigger-happy (at least with his camera), and started to learn what subjects actually made interested and aesthetically pleasing pictures. He especially liked taking photos of Darcy, saying that he always wanted reminders of how beautiful she was.   
“But can’t you just remember? We live and work together,” she reminded him, as he pulled out his phone to snap a picture of her in an apron while they were making dinner together. 

He pouted. “But you look so cute with all that flour on your nose, dollface. It was going to be a quality pic, I swear.”

She turned, examining her reflection in the microwave. “I don’t have flour on my nose.” As she began to turn back around she realized her mistake. “Bucky, stay the hell away--”

A puff of flour swirled into her face and she heard his laugh, deep and full. “What a beauty. I’m sure a lucky man.”

“Old man, more like it!” And the flour war began. 

When they were done, the walls, the floor, and their clothes and hair were covered in flour. Bucky took a picture of her in the middle of the mess, and Darcy had it framed for the wall of their living room. 

She got used to finding thirty selfies, twelve pictures of the inside his shower, and nine blurry dark shapes that could be literally anything in her camera roll. She would sigh, delete the boring and the bad ones, and keep the few adorable selfies of her precious ex-assassin boyfriend. 

 

Bonus → Tangled, the movie  
“Date night!” Darcy sang as she skipped into the living room. “It’s date night and it’s my turn to pick what we do!”

Bucky stretched from where he was sprawled in an easy chair reading his book. “So what’s it going to be, sugar?”

“Well, I know that Tony has been working really hard to bring you up to speed on movies,” she began, keeping the DVD hidden behind her back. “And from what I hear, he’s been doing a really good job. Even Natasha and Bruce agree.”  
Bucky nodded thoughtfully. “Last week we watched The Breakfast Club. I liked it. Especially the one with the leather jacket.”

“Exactly! These movies are all important and will help you understand more about today’s culture. But I did realize that there’s one genre of movie that Tony hasn’t really ventured in to.”  
She slowly slid the movie out from behind her back. “And that’s kids’ movies.”

Bucky took the movie from her hands, giving her a confused look. “But this is for small children. And why the hell’s her hair so long?”

She plucked the DVD out of his hands and slid it into the player. “That’s why you have to watch the movie, silly. To find out.”

Moving across the room to join her on the couch, she could almost hear him rolling his eyes. But nevertheless he cuddled up with her, wrapping both arms around her and tucking his chin onto her shoulder obediently. 

“You’ll like this,” she told him as the opening credits started rolling. “It’s a classic. And a very kickass princess, if you want my opinion.”

“If you say so,” he replied, his voice slightly muffled against her shoulder. 

After the first few scenes she felt him sit up a little straighter, and as Flynn Rider rode through the forest to escape the bad guys, she swore that his heart beat a little faster as he watched. 

“Does that hurt her?” Bucky asked, watching Rapunzel pull Mother Gothel up to her tower using her hair. 

Darcy shrugged. “Her hair is magic. She can probably survive pulling a grown woman up into a secret tower.”

He seemed satisfied with that answer, and settled back to watch the movie until Mother Gothel found Rapunzel mid-song at a bar. 

“Why are they taking the time to sing a whole song while they should be focusing on getting to the lights? Doesn’t she know her fake mother is a horrible witch?”

“You’re right, she should know better,” Darcy agreed, taking his hand. “Song breaks are for the weak.”

“Well, I guess she’s not totally useless,” Bucky said a few minutes later, watching Flynn and Rapunzel swing across and canyon using her hair. “She’s using her resources well.”

At the final scenes of the movie Darcy felt him hold her a little tighter, and Bucky definitely gasped a little when Flynn died. She snuck a glance at him right then, and his eyes were wide and a bit shocked. Something in her chest squeezed a little, and she silently wondered how she got so lucky. 

She could almost hear his sigh of relief when Flynn was brought back to life and married Rapunzel, and when it was over, she swore that Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier, was smiling uncontrollably at a Disney princess movie. 

He, of course, would deny it to the grave, but one rainy day a few weeks later she found him after a mission, curled up under a blanket with Rapunzel singing about pretty lights. Darcy sighed, smiled, and slid in with him.


End file.
